MEETING THE BAKER FAMILY

May 6 and 7

We felt that we had had a full and satisfying day after our visit to the Georgia aquarium, but there were more great things to come!

We got our car out of the parking garage and headed on to Cummings, a suburb of Atlanta, where one of my Rhoda cousins, Robin Rhoda Baker, lives.  When we got about ½ hour away from her house I telephoned to let her know we would be showing up soon.

Following Trexie’s instructions we drove right up to the Baker home and presented ourselves at the door.  Robin answered and we were off on another adventure.

Meeting Robin and Bob turned out to be every bit as much of a pleasant surprise as the Aquarium was.  Robin showed us our room and then we went back downstairs to the living room and were off talking a mile a minute about who we were and how we were related. 

Then Bob joined us and we found even more to talk about.  From his first sentence we could see that he was excited to meet us and really excited about family history.  He had prepared a family tree to illustrate the relationship and we looked that over.  I got out my copy of the Dudelsacher and showed him the family tree pages.  Bob showed us the wonderful painting he has of a neighborhood group playing basketball, eating and chatting.  This painting is based on a real event and includes identifiable cameos of George and Marge Rhoda.

Soon more of the Baker family arrived: Tim and Ann Harris Baker and their three sons, Robby, Chris and Jack.  The three teenagers were very polite and greeted me with a handshake and a “Ma’am”.  Next Geoff and Laura Baker showed up with their son Davis and their daughter Ansley.  Robin and Bob’s third son, Bret, couldn’t make it because he lives 3 hours away in North Carolina.

The daughters-in-law went to the kitchen and started helping Robin as Bob and Don and I talked family history, genealogical research techniques, and other interests.  I mentioned that I would like to get the young people together after dinner so that I could tell them a few Rhoda family stories and was assured they would love it.  I think they are used to Grandpa Bob discussing family history with them. 

The conversation continued at dinner and both Don and I were delighted to spend some time with such a spirited, interesting and entertaining group of people.

After dinner the dads got the teenagers away from their computers and everyone gathered in the living room while I told the stories of the Delavan brothers, Alexander Donaldson, Frederick Rhoda, Elizabeth and Frederick coming to California, Franklin’s many interesting experiences.  I tried to keep it to about 15 minutes.  All of the kids seemed to listen intently, and the adults were all quite interested too.  I think a lot of these family stories are new to them.

After the presentation the kids drifted back upstairs to the computer and I showed off my genealogy book and we adults talked family history for a while longer before moving on to other topics.  It was starting to get late and kids were falling asleep, so the couples gathered their broods together and headed home.

Off we all went to bed and the next morning our conversation continued as though it had never left off.  We even got to talk to Bret on the phone.  We departed reluctantly, and with the sincere hope that we have convinced Robin and Bob to come visit us in California this fall.  I am hoping that Robin will join us for the Rhoda Women’s Conference in October.